It’s been a while since I made an effort to write down my dreams. A while back I started a dream journal and would write down anything that I thought was particularly interesting. A couple days ago, I was flipping through this journal and came across three dreams that jumped out at me—especially considering these strange times we find ourselves in now. I felt impressed to share the dreams.

Wild Dogs

I was in the wilderness with both kids. We were camping or hiking or something. We started to be approached by some type of wild dogs that were very threatening and vicious. I wrapped around the kids, and commanded the animals to stay back in the name of Jesus. They kept advancing and I repeatedly had to rebuke them and tell them to stay back. We walked away from where we were. I kept the kids wrapped close to me, and I had to keep rebuking the animals to stay back. (May 10, 2017)

We live in a time where we are attacked on all sides. Sometimes our attackers show their true colors, and sometimes they “…come to [us] in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15) I’ll never stop protecting my family from the evil that lurks. (If you haven’t already, go read my Wartime Letter to My Children.)

Snow Hike

I was hiking a particularly difficult trail with my family. The ground was covered in deep snow. We were not dressed for snow. There were rocks underfoot and it was difficult to stay up. The kids are small and it is very stressful to keep them upright and walking in the direction we are headed. My wife is there, but I felt like I was leading the way and in charge of keeping everyone safe. At one point one of the kids had gone off the trail and was in the middle of a large expanse of snow. We had to go get them. Finally we were to a point where we could stop. As we sat and rested, we looked back and the trail that we had been on melted and turned into a river of water. Rushing around, rocks everywhere. I had no idea how we were going to get back.

As difficult as it was, the snow made it possible to pass through that trail. As the water melted into the river, it became clear that there was no going back. (July 21, 2015)

The struggles we face in life help to take us places that we have never been. They enable us to grow and climb to heights that would otherwise be impossible. Once we are there, we are forever changed.

Hell

This is one of the most disturbing dreams I have ever had. It’s been nearly 9 years since I had this dream, and when I read through it, the details came flooding back. Considering todays healthcare environment, this dream takes on new disturbing meaning for me reading it now.

I dreamed that I was captured by Satan and put into Hell. It was inside of a hospital behind a wall that nobody knew about. He pulled away the wall and there was plexiglass behind it with throngs of people crammed inside and trying to get out. When I was led inside, it looked like a poorly-lit school gym. My arm was twisted behind my back at a painful angle and left there. I was left alone for the most part at the beginning. Then we were brought into a room for a presentation and I somehow ended up in front of everyone. The presentation was going to be about my teeth and Satan came in and was going to surgically remove my teeth but he wasn't going to give me any anesthetic. I resisted and that portion of the dream melted away.

Periodically we were allowed out of the plexiglass room and forced to roam around the hospital. We were trying desperately to tell others what was going on behind that wall, but nobody would listen to us. If they did listen to us, nobody would understand what we were trying to say. Satan and his minions became the hospital administration on the outside of the plexiglass room. They were sickly sweet and very professional.

I had a feeling throughout the dream that Satan knew me personally and was making it his agenda to personally try and defeat me. He was powerful but only to a point. He couldn't totally get inside my head and make me forget my past. He was strong, but I was stronger even though I was captive. I was telling jokes and using a little bit of sarcastic humor to slowly expose and make people think about his tactics as the lead hospital administrator. (October 25, 2012)

Reading through this dream again was wild. Considering what has been happening in our hospitals around the country it is particularly disturbing. I’m flashing back to that feeling of Satan knowing me personally and doing everything in his power to silence my voice. I cannot and will not let that happen.